East Beach 5K Race Report

Ran the East Beach 5K this morning. This was my first race in 7 years since the 2001 Rock n' Roll Half Marathon. This was also my first "race" vs. going into the event with a "run" mindset.

The 1/2 marathon took off first and the 5K stepped up to the start line. I found myself 2nd row. John from Running Etc was our bike lead rider for the 5K. The clock started and I started off fast (for me) and too fast as I started to feel it within the first .5 mile. It felt like a cyclocross race as I was racing for the holeshot going into the first turn. As in a cycling race, there was a "break-away" with 10+ runners and they escaped. I was in the 2nd group and stayed with the same group throughout the race. This course had alot of turns, standing water and some tight corners especially when approaching the 1/2 marathoners.

Mile 1 was marked at 7:30 and felt great but I think it hurt me mentally. My mind told me I was going too hard (should have worn the HRM). I backed off the 2nd mile to a 8:00 pace and then picked it back up for the final 1/3 of the race. I sat on the heels (can you draft in running?) for the last mile. I kicked it up with about 500m left but couldn't keep the pace (need to work on intervals) and drifted off the pace. The guy I was drafting with kicked it in on the last .1km and I lost his (w)heel.

Overall, I finished in 24:05 and 19th overall (out of 160). This was good enough for 2nd in my age group (old farts). My pace was 7:46. I'm happy with my results considering that I only started to run 2 weeks ago.

If I stuck around for the awards ceremony I could have picked up some swag but my 2 yo daughter had enough of 40 degree temps, getting barked at by a dog, eating too many doughnuts, too many faceplants on the grass/sand and getting dragged out of bed early in the morning. I shot Kevin at Kale Running an email to thank him for organizing a great race and to see how I can get my loot.

Next race is the Shamrock 8K in March. My goal is to finish under 40:00 which will put me around 20th in my age group based on last year's results.

Since I'm not pinning on a race number on the bike for a few weeks (months), these running races are the next best thing. Heck, I've never even podiumed in any of my cycling races.

Thanks to Kale Running and all the volunteers for putting on a great race.